Another vote for keeping the money and putting it toward the LS1 ride.

 

in the year ive had my 3.8 i did intake, full exhaust except for headers, 180* thermostat, manual fan switch, ws6 ls1 aluminum driveshaft, and a full stereo system, and bought a z28 posi unit(uninstalled) all of that i think added up to around 1000 bucks, my next mod is gunna be headers and then the list is sooooo long from there, just search the for sale section on here daily and youll find all kinds of things for dirt cheap, and write ups for things such as my fan switch witch was like 5 bucks total for everything

 

haha you live in yulee, you live about 30 min from me

you should look into the River City F-Body Club

I have a 1995 3.4 also
if you want to increase performance and efficiency there are very few options.

-160^ Thermostat
-K&N FIPK Cold air intake
-Underdrive Pulley Kit
-Replace fuel injectors with new ones
-Throttle Body coolant bypass
-Unrestricted exhaust
-stiffer suspension

the 95 comes with a 3.42 limited slip already so I went to upgrade mine to a 3.73 but the computer has no way of recognizing it. Don't use any tuning chips because it really wont make that big of a difference.

anyway, I know you use i95 as much as me so enjoy the 3.4 and its great highway performance.

 

Fastchip.com basic mailorder tune $300
Cold air intake (FIPK, SLP, Moroso, etc.) $200
Hi-flow cat & cat-back exhaust (Magnaflow, Flowmaster, etc.) $425
Underdrive pulley set $75

If you can get any of the above slightly used or for a really good deal, and you have money left over, add the following:
Used 3.42 posi rear from a V8 M6 car $250

Those will give you the best bang for the buck.

 

A custom order chip from FastChip.com?
Is it really worth it to replace my Chip, I've been discouraged from this by people previously.
Also, what exactly is a underdrive pulley set?

 

With the underdrive pulley set, be sure to get a higher amp alternator, or figure out some way to keep your charge up, otherwise the underdrive pulley on the alt will kill your alternator while you're driving to L.A. like it did to me!

 

One thing that entrigues me are the ideas listed on this thread:

http://web.camaross.com/forums/showt...&highlight=3.4

However, being new to cars in general, I can't say that I follow all that he spoke about. Can anyone give me a break down on the parts/labor he's describing having done and a general estimate of the cost for each item?

 

What Russell is talking about is basically turning the 3.4 into a 3400, which has a slightly higher horsepower rating even though they are the same displacement. The process is pretty involved however for the average joe (since you have to tear down the motor and there is some fabrication involved) and the same gains can be realized with simple bolt-ons for the 3.4 since we're only talking about a 15 hp difference at the crank.

People may have discouraged you from using an add-on module such as the Jet Stage 2 or Venom. I have seen hard dyno numbers that show they do provide a benefit, but I suggest Fastchip tuning (you send them your PCM, they alter the programming and send it back to you) because they are proven to produce more power than the add-on modules. I have the Hypertech tuner, which has nearly the same gains as Fastchip, however the 3.4 model was discontinued in 1996 and you will be very lucky indeed to find one.

There are many other supporting mods that can increase horsepower, handling and braking but you asked for "what can I do with $1000 to get the most benefit" and those are the easiest, most cost effective solution.

 

What advantages do you feel the FastChip tuning would provide me? I know it resets the shift-points, so I would get smoother shifting, which I assume would also mean that I could potentially accelerate faster, but does it also equate to more HP? Or are there other benefits to it?

Also, my car had a pre-existing issue when I bought it regarding the radiator fan and as a result it had to be "straight-wired" so that when the ignition is turned on the radiator fan kicks in, when the ignition's off, the fans off. I noticed several posts suggesting a 160 degree thermastat, but I assume the thermastat is for the radiator. If so, does the current setup of my radiator fan mean that I will have less performance?

 

I think the 3.42 posi sounds like a good idea. I also love the idea of the 3400 head/top end swap, but the involvement would be pretty extreme. Some of the actual parts involved, including the aluminum heads, upper an lower intake manifolds can be bought at a scrap yard for under $200. It's just getting them to work with the increased compression from the smaller combustion chambers (while still driving on the street).

 

The thermostat goes in the intake manifold - where the hose comes out the top and goes to the radiator. If your fan has been rigged to run all the time I would definitely suggest you NOT get the 2-pulley set, but you can still use just the underdrive crank pulley and they sell that seperately.

Tuning is the single biggest gain to be had on a bolt-on NA car. Cat-back exhaust, headers, cold-air intake, etc. - all of these will add less than 5 rwhp each. But tuning can add 10-20 rwhp just with the options available to the 3.4 - and at the speeds we run at this can equate to .2-.5 faster accelleration times in the quarter mile.

 

So far, I think I'm definitely leaning toward at least the folowing three items:

- Bilstein Shocks
- FastChip.com Tuning
- K & N Cold Air Intake

As far as the underdrive pulley idea? What exactly does it do/how does it work? Also, are there any specific ones, or specific stores that I should look at? Finally, if I get the underdrive pulley, then I should also get a more powerful alternator, correct?

 

DOn't spend a dime on the 3.4. I spent $3000 on mine and it wasn't worth it.

 

You replace the crank pulley with a smaller one. This slows down the speed that the engine has to turn the accessories, freeing up horsepower. If you get the crank pulley only (which I highly recommend considering your fan situation) then you don't need a high output alternator - that's only if you go with the underdrive alternator pulley also. Summit or most other retailers have the ASP pullies, a crank only should be around $50.

 

just save up for an lt1/ls1...i had a friend that had a camaro with the 3.4 and put a bunch of money in it...long story short, he hated it, everyone made fun of him, so he sold it and now has a 97z28 that runs low 13s.